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MINUSMA says it “will continue to carry out its mandate in support of peace and security in Mali”
21 (EUROPE PRESS)
The deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary General, Farhan Haq, regretted on Wednesday the decision of the Malian authorities to ask the spokesman for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), Olivier Salgado, to leave the country within a maximum period of 72 hours.
Asked about the UN’s assessment of Salgado’s declaration of persona non grata by the Malian government, Haq stressed that this doctrine does not apply to the organization’s personnel and that it is contrary to the obligations imposed by the United Nations Charter , including those relating to the privileges and immunities of the UN and its personnel.
“MINUSMA and the United Nations Headquarters are taking the appropriate measures to follow up on this matter with the competent authorities,” the deputy spokesman for the Secretary General detailed, according to a UN statement.
Likewise, Haq explained that within the measures to be adopted by the United Nations after the expulsion of the MINUSMA spokesman, a high-level visit by the UN or a meeting of the Security Council to discuss the issue is not ruled out.
“We are studying the problems that we have faced at all levels. And both MINUSMA and the headquarters will take the measures they deem necessary to help rectify the difficulties that have arisen in recent weeks,” he added.
For its part, MINUSMA has indicated in a brief statement that it “deeply regrets” the decision of the Malian authorities and has added that it “takes note” of it. “MINUSMA will continue to carry out its mandate in support of peace and security in Mali,” he noted.
The Malian government announced this Wednesday afternoon the expulsion of spokesman Olivier Salgado, spokesman for MINUSMA, and that he must leave the country within 72 hours, linking the decision to “a series of tendentious and unacceptable publications” by Salgado on their social networks regarding the controversial arrest of 49 Ivorian soldiers at the airport of the Malian capital, Bamako.
The Malian Foreign Ministry has argued that Salgado has declared “without any evidence” that the Malian authorities “would have been informed in advance of the arrival of the 49 Ivorian soldiers on a civilian flight.” Despite the expulsion of the spokesperson, Mali has stressed its willingness to maintain dialogue and deepen cooperation “with all international partners”, including MINUSMA itself.
